Algeria’s Arms Imports Drop by 58%

Algerian helicopters are seen during maneuvers. (Algerian Ministry of National Defense)
Algerian helicopters are seen during maneuvers. (Algerian Ministry of National Defense)
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Algeria’s Arms Imports Drop by 58%

Algerian helicopters are seen during maneuvers. (Algerian Ministry of National Defense)
Algerian helicopters are seen during maneuvers. (Algerian Ministry of National Defense)

Algeria’s arms imports have drastically decreased since 2018, according to a study published recently by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The arms imports of Algeria dropped by 58 percent during the past four years.

Algiers and Moscow have been preparing for a year a “strategic document” for cooperation. It is expected to be signed in May and weapons are a main focus.

In Africa, Algeria comes second after Egypt in military spending while Morocco comes third, according to SIPRI.

Globally, Algeria ranked 18 with arms imports representing 1.8 percent during 2018-2022 compared to 4.1 percent between 2013-2017 (a 58 percent decrease). Arms purchases from Russia and Germany are respectively 73 percent and 10 percent.

Algiers is now Moscow's third largest arms client after India and China, the report added.

China has reinforced its trade presence in Africa by exporting war equipment to 18 states, including Algeria.

The report noted that China has become “the third largest arms supplier in the world following Germany and France.”

Russia and the US also maintained their leading position as the main suppliers of arms to Africa between 2018 and 2022.

Russia’s exports to Africa accounted for 40 percent during the same period, followed by the US (16 percent), China (9.8 percent), and France (7.6 percent).

SIPRI’s publication reported a 40 percent decrease in imports of major arms by African states between 2013-2017 and 2018-2022.

The report attributed the change to drops in arms imports from the two largest importers in the region, namely Algeria and Morocco.

Morocco’s arms imports decreased by 20 percent while Algeria’s arms imports declined by 58 percent.

Sub-Saharan countries' imports of arms accounted for two percent of the total global imports in 2018-2022. They saw a drop of 23 percent compared to the period between 2013-2018.

Algeria and Russia have launched arrangements for a military deal that was termed “important”. It is expected to be finalized in May during the visit of Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune to Moscow.

The two countries also seek to sign an agreement reflecting “the new quality of bilateral ties”, according to statements made by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Algeria in May 2022.

Major General Saïd Chengriha, Algeria's Acting Chief of Staff, visited Russia in June 2021. He stressed during his meeting with Russia’s Minister of Defense Sergei Shoigu the strong ties between the two countries.

Chengriha further expressed his country’s gratitude to Russia for reinforcing the armed forces potentials and helping Algeria face threats and challenges.



Hamas Releases Video of Two Israeli Hostages Alive in Gaza

 A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Hamas Releases Video of Two Israeli Hostages Alive in Gaza

 A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
A picture taken near Israel's border with Gaza shows smoke billowing in the besieged Palestinian territory on May 8, 2025, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Hamas's armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli hostages alive in the Gaza Strip, with one of the two men calling to end the 19-month-long war.

Israeli media identified the pair in the undated video as Elkana Bohbot and Yosef Haim Ohana, who were kidnapped during Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war.

The three-minute video released by Hamas's Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades shows one of the hostages, identified by media as 36-year-old Bohbot, visibly weak and lying on the floor wrapped in a blanket.

Bohbot, a Colombian-Israeli, was seen bound and injured in the face in video footage from the day of the Hamas attack. After a video of him was released last month, his family said they were "extremely concerned" about his health.

The second hostage, said to be Ohana, 24, speaks in Hebrew in the video, urging the Israeli government to end the war in Gaza and secure the release of all remaining captives -- a similar message to statements made by other hostages, likely under duress, in previous videos released by Hamas.

Bohbot and Ohana, both abducted by Palestinian gunmen from the site of a music festival, are among 58 hostages held in Gaza since the 2023 attack, including 34 the Israeli military says are dead.

Hamas also holds the remains of an Israeli soldier killed in a 2014 war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that the fate of three hostages presumed alive was unclear, without naming them.

"We know with certainty that 21 hostages are alive... and there are three others whose status, sadly, we do not know," Netanyahu said in a video shared on his Telegram channel.

Israel resumed its military offensive across the Gaza Strip on March 18, after a two-month truce that saw the release of dozens of hostages.

Since the ceasefire collapsed, Hamas has released several videos of hostages, including of the two appearing in Saturday's video.

Israel says the renewed offensive aims to force Hamas to free the remaining captives, although critics charge that it puts them in mortal danger.

Hamas's October 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday that at least 2,701 people have been killed since Israel resumed its campaign in Gaza, bringing the overall death toll since the war broke out to 52,810.